Rewrite Our Story
by Sadestar
Summary: Takes place in Skyward Sword. Link fights Ghirahim in person for the second time at the fire temple, but a surprise visit from an unknown demon shifts the tracks of fate, allowing them to see a side of each other they would have never known otherwise, and to take a path that was never drawn out for them in the first place. Now in control of their own story, what will they do?
1. Derailed Fate

Author's Note: This story takes place mid way through the game, so there may be _spoilers_. We are starting during the second time Link battles Ghirahim personally. I've seen some good feedback on the original version of this story, so I'm re-writing it to be better and make more sense.

There's also an original character who pops up. Her only known part in the story so far is in this chapter, and her only purpose is to create the change in the story so that it branches away from the original Skyward Sword Story.

With that out of the way, here's the story. I hope you enjoy.

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The sounds of swords were one of the only sounds in the room where Link and Ghirahim fought. There would also be the gentle tap of Ghirahim's footsteps, and the frantic thudding of Link's as well. On occasion though, Link's voice would cut through the symphony of tapping, thudding and clanging of inanimate objects, crying out when he swung his sword hard, or got hit.

The battle seemed to last ages, and Link was getting tired. It seemed as though he demon lord would never tire, and looked as clean and strong as when they first met in the room. It was discouraging to Link.

After a while, Link's legs gave out from him moving around so much. He fell to the ground, and scrambled to move away from the slowly approaching demon, despite how sore his legs had become. They were even shaking from the exertion.

Seeing the Skyloftian on the ground made Ghirahim smile. "My, my, Sky child... You seem to be growing tired. Why don't you just give up already?" The demon lord asked, grinning as though victory was already his.

Link looked at him defiantly. This was awarded with a dagger getting thrown into his shoulder.

"Tsk, tsk. Have you ever been taught manners? No matter, I'll keep this simple." Ghirahim said. He leaned down, his blackened arms grabbing the boy's sword as it was pushed towards him and throwing it away. With the main threat away from him, he grabbed the boy's chin and forced Link to look at him. "Tell me where the second gate of time is."

It was a command, leaving no room for debate. However, it was a command Link was refusing to obey, glaring defiantly at the demon more. He remained silent as he rarely ever spoke, and had made it a point to never speak around this man. It wasn't worth it.

The demon's jaw clenched, and his hold on Link's jaw tightened. Link was almost afraid it would shatter the bone. "Why must you be difficult?" Ghirahim growled, before leaning even closer to whisper right into Link's ear. "I promise your death will be a lot less painful if you tell me now."

Link raised his hands to Ghirahim's chest and pushed with all his might. His only intention was to push the demon away from him, and didn't expect it to work well despite his efforts. The demon was usually as solid as stone. However, Ghirahim fell back, having been pushed off his balance from the rather weak force Link used, which was surprising.

Link looked the demon over, who was staring at something above Link's head with a shocked expression. It was then Link felt a pair of hands grab at his arms, and he instinctively struggled against it. This caused him to fall back to the ground, away from whoever was picking him up.

A woman was standing there, crossing her arms as she watched Link back away, slowed by the injury to his shoulder as he struggled to move. She then shook her head, looking next to Ghirahim instead.

Similarly to him, her outfit consisted of a white, skin tight suit, though hers showed more skin since it didn't cover her arms and legs, and had a single diamond cut out at her navel. She also a cape that looked just like his, but was solid red, and a matching skirt around her waist, partially covering the diamond cut out on her front. To finish the outfit, she had boots and gloves, each with a single, large diamond design on them.

She was very pale, but not as much so as Ghirahim was. Her eyes were scarlet, and her hair also nearly matched ghirahim's in shape, but was black with a red highlight on the tip of her bangs. She reminded Link heavily of Ghirahim.

Link was so caught up in staring at her that he almost didn't hear that Ghirahim spoke out.

"Who are you?"

Link looked back to Ghirahim, who was standing from the ground and dusting himself off, though he wasn't actually dirty, and glaring at the new woman.

The woman huffed. "As temperamental as ever, I see. I suppose it's natural you don't recognize me. I never was worth any attention of a demon lord, was I?" the woman asked, looking away pointedly. "And here I was getting my hopes up for finally meeting you." she said before shaking her head. "You've no idea how hard it is to track you down."

The demon lord's gaze darkened as she looked back. "Who. Are. You?" he asked, punctuating each word with venom dripping from his voice. It made Link shudder.

The woman shook her head. "My name is Varia. I was an outcast for the most part, though in your absence, someone had to take over. They even insisted I wore this… ridiculous cape. Thank goodness I dyed it all red." she said. As she spoke of the cape, she picked up one end of the fabric, looking at it as though judging it before dropping it with a shrug.

Ghirahim's eyes widened for a moment, as though he recognized something before several daggers flew towards Varia. She easily dodged it with a sidestep, watching as they were imbedded into the floor before disappearing in a small show of diamond shapes.

Ghirahim seemed quite angry at this point, his arms turning black again as he summoned his swords and raced towards her.

Varia, on the other hand, summoned a simple black trident with a red gem embedded where the three prongs came together, and easily parried off Ghirahim's attacks. When she tried a counter attack, however, Ghirhaim seemed equally as able to deflect her attacks. They appeared to be evenly matched.

"Oh, what a way to treat me after coming all this way, just to see you~" She teased as they fought, the sound of metal clashing every time they got close. "You've been obsessed. You even got your red string of fate all tangled up!" she called.

Link could see them exchanging blows and teleporting so fast, he almost couldn't follow. Each word she said seemed to make the Demon Lord even more angry, until she backed away and asked a peculiar question.

"Ghirahim, what will you accomplish, raising Demise to the world again?" she asked.

Ghirahim paused in his attacks as well, glaring at her before breaking into a fit of laughter. "Are you stupid?" he asked, his voice low, gravelly, and overall demonic.

When he got no response he huffed, lodging his swords in the ground so they stood upright and thrusts his arms out, as though gesturing to something very large. "When our king returns, the world can once again be shrouded in darkness, and demons can return to this realm at will! He will not only be king of our realm, but this one too! powerful enough to take the Goddess' place and create a dark world for us all! It would be fantastic, and I'll be right by his side! We'll be ruling the world together!" he called out, looking to the sky as though he were shouting at the goddess right now.

His attention then snapped to Varia again, a rather crazy looking grin on his features as he stared at her. "Can there be no better reality for this world?" he asked, his voice dropping to the low, gravelly tone of before.

Link recognized a feralness in the demon lord's demeanor that would often be seen when he let his temper get the best of him. The other demoness, though, seemed to be upset at his answer, and was sporting a rough pout at the demon lord.

Varia's face then twisted into a glare only a moment before she disappeared in a show of diamonds ranging from scarlet to black in color. She reappeared behind Ghirahim, a hand over the one eye that wasn't covered by his hair. "You are blinded Ghirahim. You can not see truth under corruption running through you." she stated.

The demon lord seemed frozen for a moment before swinging one of his black arms around, trying to hit the woman in the side with his elbow, but she had teleported away too quickly for him to hit her.

She was now standing across the room from him, where she was before. "Tell me." she called out, her voice ringing with an authoritative tone. "Why this is so important to you? You _know_ Demise. You _know_ what happened to him, perhaps better than all of us. Yet you are blinded by him." She said. "And you should know, by now, that he no longer holds anything dear. Demise is narcissistic, He only cares for himself."

Ghirahim snarled at her. "Master cares for me too!" he shouted. "I am the only one he wields! He took me in, he brought me to where I am!" There was a pause before he continued, even louder than before. "And _you_ all turned your backs on him, you traitors!"

Varia's eyes widened before she glared back. "He grew corrupt! He will wield anyone who offered themselves if it would get him what he wants. Face it! You are just a tool to him. He uses you because you are strong and haven't broken, but when you do he will toss you aside and find someone else to take your place!" She shouted back. "Demise only does what is best for him and no one else! All you are to him is a means to an end. You will destroy yourself trying to please him when we both know he is beyond pleasing!"

Ghirahim flinched, as though he had been wounded. His arms lost their ebony color and his hands clenched at his side. "How would you know?" he asked softly, before shouting back at her. "How would you know what he's going to do!? You don't know what he's been through! What _we've_ been through!"

Varia seemed to snap, her voice rising to near screaming levels. "No, I don't know! But what I do know is he had been corrupted, and is not the same king he once was! He grew greedy! You've seen more than the rest of us how he changed! He will not thank you if you free him - he will curse you for taking so long! He will not be happy it was YOU of all demons to free him - he will merely use you since you happen to be there when he's freed! And you know that if he loses a battle with you as his weapon, he will only blame YOU!" Her voice rose with each sentence until she was screaming loud enough to make her voice crack.

Link started to tremble at the power behind their voices. He was fairly sure they had forgotten he was there, and debated on what to do. He could attack Ghirahim while he was weak, and solve a lot of problems. He could run and heal up, or go to the next chamber, but then this mess was left here, and he had to admit he was worried about its outcome.

Oddly enough, he felt compelled to stay. Something in him felt that Ghirahim was getting hurt, and he could almost tell that Varia's sharp words were cutting away at Ghirahim little by little.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Ghirahim cried out, his hands covering his ears. He fell to the ground, on his knees, his eyes clenched closed and he hunched over as though trying to shrink away from the words.

Varia paused a moment to regain some of her composure and summoned two daggers. They were sleeker in model than Ghirahim's, and shot towards him quickly as she continued. "You have to face the facts." She said loudly, the blades hitting Ghirahim's hands and knocking them away from his head, cutting his flesh in the process. He clenched his hands to try and stop the bleeding, but this left him open for more verbal assaults.

"Demise changed." Varia continued. "And he's changing you. If he is released to rule the worlds again he will only destroy them!"

At this point Link had had enough, and looked around frantically. His sword was close, and he still had a dagger lodged in his shoulder, thankfully, it was his left shoulder, so he could still swing with his right side.

Link scrambled to get his sword, wincing at the sound of it scraping against the floor, but it didn't seem to matter much as Varia was still berating Ghirahim with her words.

"His thirst is unquenchable, and no matter what you do he will never be satisfied! Not with you, not with anyone! Not with the entire world in his hand! You know this is true and still, you-" Varia was cut off as one of Ghirahim's daggers hit her on her side, distracting her.

Link was running up to her, and swung his sword at her with all the strength he could muster, knocking her back. As she recoiled from the attack, Link jumped back, his sword pointed low and his left arm bleeding heavily from where the dagger was previously. He stood in front of Ghirahim, aiming his sword at Varia sloppily.

The woman looked to the boy with a scowl. "What are you doing, child?" she said, grabbing the dagger that had merely torn her cloak and cracking it with her bare hand, her gloves fading as her arms turned black, as Ghirahim's do. She dropped the shards of the dagger as she glared at the young hero.

Link took a deep breath. "Stop attacking him!" he cried out.

This left the room silent for a good moment, before the woman burst into laughter. "Why? What are you going to do if I don't?" she paused, looking him over. "Oh, this is the Goddess' hero, isn't it? Goodness, what a pleasure it is to meet you. Though tell me, why are you defending this demon?" she asked. "He's trying to do everything you are preventing, isn't he?"

Link clenched his jaw, his gaze held with the woman and refusing to look away. He mentally noted that Ghirahim was being too quiet, but refused to look away from the woman's sharp gaze. At his silence, Varia frowned, and sent a few daggers his way.

Link wanted to dodge, but knowing that Ghirahim was behind him, he instead raised his sword to deflect the incoming attacks. He was successful 3 out of 4, the final one lodging in his left arm, lower than the last impact. Still, Link held his ground.

The woman sighed, and her shoulders slumped. She put a hand to the bridge of her nose and spoke in an irritated voice. "You are aware you are protecting your enemy?"

Silence.

"Why?" she asked again.

Link looked down, his sword falling till the tip clanged against the floor. "He's... just like me." Link muttered. He was worried for a moment he had spoke too softly, and would need to repeat himself louder, but it seemed as though it didn't matter either way.

Varia shook her head. "I've wasted too much time." she said dismissively before looking to Link. "Hero." she called. "This is for you. Don't ask. I was just told to give it to you if we ever met." she said. She pulled something out from behind her back, under her cloak, and threw it out into the room as she disappeared in a flurry of red diamonds.

Link paused. There was a heart container on the ground. He looked to his sword, and let out a sigh. "Fi." he called.

The sword spirit appeared from the handle, and looked at Link expectantly. Link motioned to the heart container. "What can you tell me about this… is it real?" he asked.

Fi looked at it, hovering near for a moment before nodding. "The heart container is real, and shall replenish your health as all previously encountered ones will." she stated.

She paused, looking over Link's shoulder, but Link pulled her attention away quickly. "That will be all, Fi. Thank you." he said. The sword spirit nodded and silently returned to the sword, which soon after fell to the floor.

Link grabbed the heart container, pressing it to his chest. Red magic swirled out from it, healing all his wounds and helping him recover from all the fighting. Soon, all the red energy got absorbed into his body, and the gold that sealed it faded away.

Finally, he turned to Ghirahim, who was still on his knees, with his head hung low. This hair was a mess, and hid his face from view.

Link paused, and kneeled before Ghirahim with a worried expression. "...Ghirahim?" he asked gently.

The demon lord looked away, mumbling softly. Link had to lean in to hear him. "You saved me… I'm not worth saving… Why would you save me?" He continued to mumble such things and Link put a hand on his shoulder. The demon lord flinched.

"You… aren't bad, not really. You've been mean, and upset, but you aren't bad. You are… just like me." Link said, offering him a small smile.

When Ghirahim looked up, his face was streaked with his tears, purple eye makeup following the trails down his cheeks and nose. Link pulled out a piece of fabric from his tunic that was all but ripped off entirely and folded it before wiping the Demon lord's face with a tenderness the demon had not felt in centuries.

Ghirahim had to fight off more tears at the kind gesture, but it became impossible as Link wrapped him in a hug. The hug made him feel secure, and Ghirahim slowly wrapped his arms back around Link, his hands clenching weakly into Link's armor as he held the Skyloftian close, as though he were afraid to let go.

Ghirahim let his forehead rest on Link's shoulder, and did nothing but sit and cry for a good, long while. Ghirahim was sad, and angry, and scared. He was upset at himself, for needing his enemy to save him, for needing his enemy for comfort, for needing comfort in the first place. And he was scared of what Demise would do if he ever found out.

Link just hummed softly and rubbed the demon's back, soothing the demon until his sobs stopped. Eventually, Link pulled away to look at Ghirahim. His face was a mess again, but thankfully not as bad since most of the makeup was already gone.

Ghirahim's gaze was kept on the floor for a while, before he summoned the courage to speak. He internally cringed when his voice cracked. "How… what… do you mean… when you say… we are alike?" he asked softly, his voice hoarse from the shouting match he just had.

Link's gaze traveled to the ground as well, and he moved to a more comfortable sitting position on the ground. "I'm in the same situation. Sorta. I'm travelling to protect the goddess, a tool in the grand story to keep her safe…" he said "'Hero'" he scoffed, "Is hardly a title. Even if I complete my task, what will happen? Whatever happens, things can't go back to how they were. I won't be the same, and neither will anyone else."

Link paused to sigh. "The only reason I started this quest was because I was worried about my friend. Zelda was my best friend, one of very few I had back home. She was always there for me, and I want to be there for her, too… But then, all this happened. Even if I get her back, surely she's changed on her quest too. I'm scared to think of what happens next." he said.

Ghirahim gave him a look, moving to sit with his knees to his chest as he watched Link. "I.. Don't have any friends… anymore." he said. He looked about ready to cry again. "I don't want to admit it, since Mast- Demise was the closest thing to a friend I had. He _has_ changed, but he's all I have." he said, looking away. "What else am I supposed to do? No one else will trust me anyway." he murmured.

Link looked at him. "You're not… You're not alone. You're like me." he said, offering a half smile. "We can be friends… if you want." he offered.

Ghirahim looked back at him. "You want to be friends with your enemy?" he asked, a strained note in his voice.

Link shook his head. "If you're my friend… You aren't my enemy. I… trust you… and… I don't expect you to trust me… but… I don't want to hurt you, not really." Link said.

Ghirahim frowned and looked away. "I don't know what it's like to be a friend or have any. Though… I suppose a simple truce would be alright?" he asked, glancing back at Link from the corner of his eye, the sad tone in his voice laced with a little bit of hope.

Link seemed to take a moment to think about it and nodded. "That will work." he said with a smile as he looked at Ghirahim.


	2. Incompatible

A/n: I'm sorry this took longer than I expected, I rewrote probably half of it when editing lol. Also! Chapter three should be coming *hopefully* before Christmas XD

Enjoy!

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With nothing else being said, Link got up, and extended a hand to Ghirahim as well. The demon lord hesitated a moment, before accepting the offer, and let Link help him up.

This, however, alerted Link to Ghirahim's injuries on his hands, thanks to the daggers that had previously pierced them, thanks to that strange woman. "Oh, you're hurt!" Link said worriedly.

Ghirahim watched blankly for a moment as Link shuffled around his pouches before he realized what the skyloftian meant, seeing the blood on his hands. "Oh." he said before shaking his head. "I'm fine-" his sentence was cut off as a bottle of red liquid was pushed into his view.

Link looked away, a light blush on his cheeks. "That uh… other demon gave me a heart container, so I don't really need this now. You can use it." he said, still holding the bottle out to the demon lord.

Ghirahim paused, before letting out a soft chuckle and nodded. "Alright." he said softly, taking the bottle with a slight wince. He knew Link saw his reaction, but he took the bottle before the other could react and uncorked it, even though the action made his hands bleed again.

Without a second thought the demon drank the potion in a single gulp, cringing at the flavor. "Egh, potions just get worse and worse, don't they..." he complained vaguely, looking down at his rapidly healing hands. "Though they sure are potent." he added, handing the bottle back to Link.

Link took the bottle back silently, putting it back in his pouch set. There was a pause as he recalled the way he got the pouch, and it dawned on him that he had made a lot more friends since he started this journey.

Suddenly, Link recalled why he had come here in the first place and looked to the far wall, where the goddess symbol was faintly carved into the stone.

Now that Ghirahim was calmer, he easily noticed the hero's distraction, and after briefly wondering what Link had been thinking about, he figured that he should just ask. "What are you staring at?"

Link blinked, coming back to the world around him and turned to look at Ghirahim, unsure if he should tell the truth. Well, lying would be a bad way to start the truce they just made, so he decided to simply answer the question truthfully. "I was just thinking about the reason I came here is all." he said.

Ghirahim tilted his head, not really sure what the hero had meant. "Was it not for the murals?" he asked curiously, since that was what brought him here.

Link shook his head. "There is another room, a chamber made to hold a flame to temper my sword. I was told I have to get it tempered by 3 sacred flames to continue, and this will be my last one." he said.

Ghirahim's eyes flickered to the engraved stone that would be where the door was, before they swept back to the sword on the teenager's back. "How do you get in?" He asked, seeing no obvious entrance.

There was a pause this time as Link thought about how to answer. "The door kinda just…. Appears. More like, a part of the wall disappears and I can go through." he explained, glancing at the wall again, seeming to have an idea of what part of the wall he had to go to.

Ghirahim frowned but tried to keep the conversation going. "Well what does it do?" he asked, appearing to be unimpressed with the explanations so far.

Link looked down for a moment. "Well…. The last two flames made my sword stronger, and one time I think it grew a bit in size too. Each time so far the sword has changed, and soon I guess it will be complete." he replied.

Ghirahim hummed thoughtfully. "Sounds… interesting." he said, staring at the wall. After a brief pause, he spoke up again, though he didn't look away from the wall he was staring at. "I wouldn't mind seeing this for myself, if you… don't mind that is…" he said, adding the last part on as an afterthought.

Link smiled. "I don't mind." he said, standing up and walking to the door. The engraved goddess symbol glowed brightly for a moment, before the light engulfed the whole arch and faded, leaving a doorway in it's place. Link walked in slowly, looking around the dimly lit room, though to him it appeared just the same as the two he had been in previously.

Link glanced back at Ghirahim, who had also gotten up and walked over. There was a smile on Link's face as he turned back towards the room and walked deeper, but he jumped when he suddenly hear a strange noise behind him, followed by hissing and cursing.

Link turned around quickly, only to see Ghirahim sitting on the ground, as though he had been pushed over, and he was wincing as though he had been hurt. Link hurried back through the doorway and kneeled beside him, hands hovering between himself and the demon lord in his worry. "What happened? Are you okay?" he asked almost frantically.

Ghirahim waved the teenager away and pushed himself to his feet on his own. He was glaring at the room and experimentally raised one hand towards the entrance, wincing as his hand moved through the doorway and quickly brought it back to his side. "This room... has been sealed with the Goddess's power." he explained, still glaring at the room. "It is designed to keep out monsters and demons, and essentially any beings that she decided were "bad"."

Link looked back into the room with a mixture of curiosity and irritation. "So are you not allowed in or something?" he asked, not really sure what the seal did.

The demon shook his head. "I can go in, if I wanted to, but it wouldn't be pleasant. In fact, being in the room will be rather painful. I believe it is designed to reflect more damage to beings who hold more power. I happen to be very powerful, so for me to go in would be excruciating." he said, looking to the hand he hand used to test this. "It's hard to explain the feeling, but I guess one could describe it as millions of tiny, metal pins, glowing red with heat and stabbing at my skin repeatedly." he explained, though he kept a monotone voice.

Link flinched at the description. Even as the demon lord was so calm about it, it sounded horrifying. He took a couple steps into the room and looked around, but he didn't feel a thing. With a slight scowl, Link pulled out his sword, holding it out in front of him.

"Fi!" He called out to the sword. After a moment, the sword glowed and its blue and purple spirit formed next to it, looking up at Link with little to no emotion on her features, though her head was bowed slightly in obedience. "What can you tell me about the seal around this room?" he asked, nearly in a demanding tone.

The sword spirit nodded without hesitance. "The seal that protects this room was one created my own creator, the goddess, and has brought forth a blessing to this room so that no one but the hero can enter, else the flames meant for his sword be tainted." she said, her voice soft, cold, and calculating.

"Remove it."

"Master?" Fi looked up at Link when he spoke.

"Remove the seal. You can do that, can't you?" He said, fixing Fi with a stern look.

The sword spirit was silent for a moment. "It is possible for me to use my power to remove the seal around the room, however, if the seal is to be removed then monsters would be allowed-"

"I know damn well what it does, Fi." Link interrupted her, holding her gaze firmly. "I want it gone."

Ghirahim looked up at the young hero who stood there, talking to the spirit with such power…. Ghirahim hadn't seen such a display in a very long time. It felt familiar, and he was compelled to follow Link in a similar fashion to the way he saw Fi's reaction. Even with a recoil, she silently and obediently floated to the center of the room.

"Very well." She had said, raising her arms as the fabric around them rippled. She began to glow with her power, the energy swirling around her body for a moment before an audible sound, similar to electricity, came from where she was. Immediately after, a wave of energy was expelled from the room, a pulse that pushed out from where Fi had been floating in every direction, like a wave. Link was nearly knocked over from the force of it, but managed to stay standing.

Ghirahim remained silent, staring in awe at Link's power. Well, it was Fi's, power, but Link was the one who brought it forth. The strangest thing to him though, was that the hero had done it for him. Why would he… for him?

His attention snapped back to the scene when he heard Fi speak up again. She had lowered down to the ground, and was only just hovering over it.

"The seal is broken, Master. I recommend we retrieve the flame quickly, before any… monsters break in." she said in her usual, monotone voice.

Link Ignored Fi's words, instead turning back to Ghirahim with a curious look on his face. "Think you can enter now?" he asked. He figured that if the flames and his sword had already waited a few thousand years, they could still wait another few minutes.

Ghirahim looked away irritably, but slowly moved his hand towards the entrance. When he didn't feel any pain, he inched forward slowly, moving into the room. He was very clearly on edge, tensed and waiting for the pain to hit him again. After a while, when he was fully in the room without any pain, he relaxed a little. "Looks like I'll be fine."

Ghirahim took a moment to look around the room. It wasn't super big, but it was fairly spacious. He got to watch as Link flashed him a smile and walked up to the center of the room. Fi had floated backwards, away from Link as he approached, and waited patiently for him to perform a skyward strike.

Link looked down at the sword in his hands for a second before he lifted it upright. There was a moment where he waited, but a second later he suddenly seemed much more focused and the sword started to glow bright with energy. Once it was glowing, Link threw his arm forward in a slash attack, the motion causing the glowing energy to fly forward from the force of the attack.

In front of LInk was a stone structure that was shaped in the symbol of the goddess. As the projectile slash hit the stone, it was absorbed, turning the symbol a silvery color as it spun about from the force.

As the symbol's spinning slowed to a stop, the symbol of Din that was engraved above it began to glow a pastel red. The pedestal the goddess's Symbol was sitting in burst into flames, bright red in color and roaring with energy. The large fire heated the room more so than before, though oddly, it left no scorch marks on the stone around it.

Link had taken a step back from the source of the heat, though a light red sparkling shone from his ears, where the fireshield earrings were activated and kept him comfortable despite the heat. This was a small detail that did not escape the demon lord's attention.

Fi floated forward, towards the flames with a calmness that contrasted the raging fire in front of her. She glanced back at Link, who held out his sword, holding it diagonally in front of him. Fi returned her attention to the flames and rose her arms, as though offering herself to it. Four pieces of fire shot out from the large flaming mass, each of them flying out and hitting Fi from different directions.

At first, the sudden 'attack' of the flames startled Ghirahim, however as he looked to Link, he saw that the hero was completely focused, but did not appear alarmed in any way. Was what was supposed to happen? The large, condensed ball of fire where Fi was previously floating started to shoot around the room, pausing every time it hit a wall, yet still darting around like a pinball.

Ghirahim took a step back as the ball of flames shot across the room in front of him, nearly hitting him in the process, and watched as it went upward before shooting back down to where Link was, landing right in front of him. Upon landing, the tight sphere of flames broke open, revealing the sword spirit who was still only barely visible through them.

Link rose his sword further towards the flames, reiterating his earlier motion, and Fi's form faded among the red fire. Suddenly, smaller bits of flames blasted out from where Fi was, and shot at the sword repeatedly. The force of the rapid fire into the sword pushed it back a little, and Link had to put his other hand on the sword's blade to keep it out in front of him in order to accept the fire as the last of the flames were absorbed into the sword's blade.

When the flames all seeped into the metal of the sword, the sword itself seemed to be enveloped an intangible, but visible aura resembling the red flames, glowing brightly with the new energy gathered within it.

Link took the sword and rose it towards the sky again while it was glowing, and the red light that was gathered around it suddenly burst into a bright white light, and the whole sword suddenly changed form.

Link winced at the brightness, and heard a disgruntled sound from behind him where Ghirahim was. After, Link lowered the sword to look at it's now silvery appearance, running his free hand along the blade curiously.

Experimentally, he slashed the sword about in front of him, getting a feel for it and used to it's new balance, before putting it away, his wrist twirling it as he moved it to it's sheath. Truth be told, he developed that as a habit because he used to swing it around before it was upgraded as a way to get used to wielding that specific sword (and because he was bored).

Link took a deep breath, before turning back to look at Ghirahim again, only… Ghirahim wasn't there. Suddenly worried, Link hurried out from the sacred room, missing the way his right hand glowed with the mark of the Triforce in order to look for the demon.

Link ended up running out of the temple and into the sanctuary that was swarming with monsters. Link heard a bokoblin's cry to his right as he left the temple, and drew his sword in preparation for a fight. However, he only saw Ghirahim standing there, with a single sword drawn, and "death cloud" that signified a fallen monster at his ankles.

Link put his sword away, and slowly approached the demon, whose back was to him. He could tell Ghirahim was very tense, but he didn't know why.

"Ghirahim…?" Link started. "Are…. you okay?" he tried first.

The demon lord flinched, and his sword disappeared with a flick of his wrist. His shoulders were rigid, and his hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides. "No." Came his short, cut-off reply.

Link frowned. "What's wrong? Can I… Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked.

The demon lord seemed strained, his white gloves disappearing in asimilar manner as his sword, and his arms slowly started to turn black. It seemed he was trying to suppress the ability, especially with how it crackled along his skin like ice breaking from pressure.

"There is… nothing you can do, Hero." he said, his words curt, and his voice strained.

Link grew frustrated. "Well can you at least tell me what's wrong?" he said, his temper flaring a little, making his voice raise, though he tried to keep it in check. He knew getting mad would be pointless, but he had though he was actually making progress with the demon!

Ghirahim trembled for a moment before he spun around, so fast that his cape flared out and wrapped halfway around his body from the sudden momentum. Ghirahim's face was contorted with a mix of unclear emotions, a mangled mess that couldn't be identified. Nearly half of his face was black too, though most of that was covered by his hair.

There was a brief, tense silence before Ghirahim snapped, shouting at the Skyloftian. "I don't understand! Why do you want to be friends with me!? I'm a demon. A DEMON! Your kind HATES me! How can you want to be friends when you are the chosen hero who wields a blade specifically designed to _extinguish_ my kind! I serve Demise! The KING of demons who has a bloodlust that even I don't understand! He wants to KILL the goddess! Your Friend! He wants ME to KILL HER so he can be all powerful! We are enemies! We are not supposed to be friends! And yet- yet you still think that by SOME way you can…" Ghirahim grimaced as his words quickly trailed off.

Link was stunned silent. Sure, he had seen the demon lose his temper a couple of times but nothing like this.

"You simply… can not save everyone." Ghirahim said with a scowl. "I have my mission. You have yours. It would be impossible for us to be… friends."

Link soon snapped out of his shock and snapped back at the demon. "So what!? I didn't choose this! Zelda didn't either! I don't care about the goddess, Demise, or any dumb prophecy! I just don't want anyone else I care about to be hurt! Zelda's been my friend for years, and all I want is for her to come home safely!" he yelled back.

Ghirahim froze, not expecting this rebuttal. After a deep sigh he look down at Link, still scowling. "Fine." he said sharply, his voice cold and kinda angry. "let's say you get your girlfriend back-"

"She's not my girlfriend."

"What will you do after that?" Ghirahim continued despite the interruption, ignoring it for the time being.

Link paused, and for a moment Ghirahim thought he had no further goals before the hero spoke up again. "The beast at the sealed grounds." He started. "I don't want it to destroy this world. This world is far from perfect, but it's kind of balanced. Even bokoblins have a place here... That beast though… It's strange, and will ruin this sort-of-balance. I haven't been able to do more than reseal it so far, so I need to grow stronger so that I can defeat it completely." Link said.

Ghirahim faltered for a moment at the Hero's explanation. "That beast…. That is Demise, in an ungodly form." he said, before looking away. "He was poisoned, and then the 'goddess' changed his form into one that matched the corruption within his mind - an insatiable beast with nothing but the primal urge to destroy.." he said, his nose scrunching up in a snarl, spitting out the word goddess. "Only her power can return him to his prior form." he added, as a way of explanation as to why he was after Zelda.

This caused Link to recall what the other demon said, the one who interrupted their 'battle'. He looked to Ghirahim, who seemed to be rather uncomfortable. "Why do you….. Follow him? Isn't he insatiable even when he isn't…. like that? That.. strange beast?" he asked.

Ghirahim was silent for a moment. "That form… is based on his mentality. It's more primal now, but it's still the same. He will always be insatiable. Mentally, and now physically, he's become corrupted. I have no choice, either, I have to follow him." he said.

"You always have a choice!" Link interrupted again.

This caused Ghirahim to snap. "No, I don't! I'm bound by his magic. I literally have no choice!" He yelled. He paused and grit his teeth, having said words he didn't mean to, and turned around again to storm away.

"Ghirahim, wait!" Link said, running after him. "Let me help!"

Ghirahim let out a growling noise, disappearing and reappearing back by the door. "You can't fix this! I'm bound to Demise by ways no mere hylian can remove. You can't help me…. You just can't save everyone." he said, trembling a bit at his own words.

Link turned, pivoting on his foot and running back to Ghirahim again, but as he reached out to grab the demon, he was greeted with a flurry of diamonds that signified that the demon had teleported again.

Link paused, watching as the diamonds of Ghirahim's magic flickered out of sight before screaming. Why he was screaming was hard to tell, but there was definitely emotion mixed in with it. He looked around, searching for the demon in the immediate vicinity, but without seeing him, Link simply shouted at the sky. "You don't know what I can and can't do!"

Link continued to sit in front of the shrine, yelling at the sky for Ghirahim to come back, that they could figure something out, and that there was always a way to fix it. He was there for about a half hour before his throat started to hurt, and he slumped down in defeat. Seeing his vulnerability, many monsters approached him, though Link's training had been thorough, and he had quickly slaughtered all of them, even if was a little sloppy in his anger.

After impaling the last lizalfos so that it "poofed" into a death cloud, Link sat at the base of the bird statue and rested his head on his knees. There were no other monsters immediately around and he was tired from all the energy he had exerted.

Ghirahim, however, was still relatively nearby. He had moved to the top of the temple, hiding among the decorative pillars but still watching Link. He couldn't bring himself to actually leave, especially as Link started to scream and shout. The whole scene made his chest hurt, and despite his restraints, he desperately wanted to go back down to the Hero.

He closed his eyes and hid again, mentally scolding himself. He had a job to do. He couldn't let his personal feelings get in the way. Even as the the mere idea of continuing his task made him upset, there was nothing that could be done about it, and he had to continue, one way, or another. _If you fail, Demise will surely fall upon you._

He looked out again to the Hero, who was still sitting at the bird statue. The sword spirit, Fi, appeared from his sword and hovered in front of him. "Master, I would advise leaving to our next task. Zelda is waiting." she informed him.

When the boy didn't respond, she lowered herself to the ground, and squatted in front of him to bring herself to his eye level. "It is best you two stay separate. Traveling together may cause this whole journey to go to waste, and you may lose Zelda forever." she said. "We must go." Her voice was softer this time, and she seemed genuinely worried for the Hero.

After a moment Link rubbed the back of his hands against his cheeks to wipe away the tears that had stained them, and nodded slowly to her. He stood up and took out his Sailcloth, before moving to the other side of the Bird statue. He made a praying motion for a moment, and the statue glowed in response. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind came through, catching on his sailcloth and sending him high into the air.

Ghirahim watched as the hero flew into the sky, and sighed. The Hero's sword spirit was right. Travelling together would only end in disaster. Consequently, he also knew doing nothing on his part would also lead to disaster.

He moved to resume his search for the second gate of time, walking back into the room where he and the hero fought to look at the murals again. He started to read over them to try and find the a clue to the second gate, but at the thought of continuing his quest, his chest pained him again enough that he clenched a hand over it, pressing his chest to try and suppress the feeling.

What was this sensation? The fact that he was unsure made coping with it that much harder. In a bout of rage, he threw a dagger at one of the murals, replacing the strange pain with anger. That seemed to work. With a wave of his hand he retrieved the dagger from the wall, twirling it in his fingers as he looked up at the old paintings.

He had already studied these murals for hours before his battle with Link, and yet he still had no leads to the second gate. With a sigh, he concluded that staying here will not bring him any closer to his goal. With that in mind, he turned to leave the temple and continue his search. After all, he had a lot of work to do.


	3. The Reason We Do This

Again, sorry for the long wait. I hope it was worth it, this is a long chapter.

* * *

Nothing. 3 days of searching and still there was no sign of anything to help him! He had searched all around the rubble from the first gate of time, the one that the guard dog had taken the goddess-child through, but there was nothing to be found there. He had looked over the murals in the fire temple repeatedly, yet he was still stuck with nothing but the mere existence of a second gate. He had even sent out bokoblins to search for it as well, but it proved to be useless, as those monsters often were.

So now, the great demon lord was at a bit of a loss as to what he should do. Every passing day, things get worse. Demise's ungodly form as the imprisoned continues to grow stronger against the goddess's seal, and he could do little to keep it at bay much longer.

Not able to find a place to be actively working or searching, he found himself by the sealed grounds again, sitting on top of the temple hidden far into the deep woods. With a sigh, he sat down on the smooth, squared stone beneath his feet, letting his legs hang off the side of the overhang he was sitting on. Truth be told, he loved the deep woods. This place was so far away from so many problems, and aside from the bokoblins, the monsters here were truly a part of the forest, which that was something Ghirahim always loved.

Not that he would ever tell anyone.

Another sigh pushed its way through his lungs as he looked through the trees. He hated when he had to sit and contemplate rather than physically work on something. His mind was dangerous, and right now, it had too many conflicting thoughts swirling around.

He summoned a dagger and started to toss it into the air and catch it, just so that his hands had something to do. He had to do something... anything. Should he search for the Sky Child again? Surely, the young hero would know something...

No.

In a fit of rage that was rather unbecoming, Ghirahim threw the dagger at the ground as hard as he could, the dark metal sinking deep into the dirt path right in front of the temple. He couldn't do that, couldn't risk it. Right now he couldn't tell if he would be more likely to trust the young hero to try to help him, or if he would end up trying and kill him on Demise's behalf.

Ghirahim summoned another three daggers around him, the three small weapons suspended in the air for a brief moment. It wasn't long, however, until they were imbedded into the dirt path, along with the one that had been thrown earlier, though this time they had caused some of the dirt to spray out from the force of the small impacts.

Ghirahim glared at them angrily. Why did it have to be this way? He was stuck here with his body and heart torn. There was no way he could defy his master, it was simply physically impossible! But at the same time, he didn't want to kill Link - the only person who really tried to help him, and the first person he really connected to in… who knew how long it was now.

Not liking this, Ghirahim stood up and snapped his fingers, teleporting himself away from the temple. He has work to do, but despite that, he found himself standing in the middle of the woods, by one of the largest trees he's seen. He noticed some puddles of water at its base and, against his better judgment, he kneeled down to look into them. The day was clear and sunny, and it provided Ghirahim a smooth surface so that he could his reflection in the water.

Frowning at the near perfect reflection, only disrupted by gentle ripples from wind or leaves, Ghirahim moved a hand slowly to his own face, and after a brief hesitation, he pulled away his bangs. A solemn face greeted him, his reflection showing him how miserable he appeared. His pale skin looked unearthly, and the purple under his eyes seemed to only just hide the tired bags under his eyes. When was the last time he's slept?

What really drew in his attention, as it always does, was the diamond shaped mark on his left cheek, a dark contrast with the rest of the pale tones of his face. Of course, seeing this always brought back bad memories, but it reminded him why he was here…

Demise was where it all boiled back down to. He knew how Ghirahim felt when this mark was created, and of course he had chosen to make his mark right where it would be seen. It was a Demon Mark, a physical mark that's seeped into the flesh like a tattoo, but held a reservoir of magic from the one who left it. It was never to be taken lightly, for there are only a few known ways to remove it, none of which were a painless process.

Ghirahim's expression hardened into a glare as he thought back on this. When he started serving Demise, it was all voluntary, back when everything was good. Back then, Demise was a great king, and the race now known as demons were a kind race who connected with one another well, even without marks. They lived mostly in deep caverns or forests, away from places that humans would populate, but of course, there was no way for contact to be avoided.

Nothing happened at first, but then the humans started to develop greed, lust, and rage. When these negative influence were exposed to the demons, there wasn't much anyone could do to stop them. Demons are much closer to the elements of magic than humans are, and much more sensitive to the corrupted energies that tend to gather around humans, who are much less sensitive.

Of course, since demons were so close to the forces of magic, they could use it quite a bit where humans could not. Predictably, the humans were afraid of what they did not know and could not use. In that fear, they turned to hostility, and attacked. Why humans fought seemed to change with each one, but when they attacked, demons had no choice but to fight back in their defense.

After the first battle, demons could start to see the corruption of the humans, especially as those who fought had started to feel the effects of it. Like a virus it would spread, and the demons had to learn to control it and expel it. Of course some were weaker than other, and fell to the corruption easily.. Others proved to be stronger. Desmere was the strongest known demon in the realm, and was a natural leader to the others of his race. It was thought to be impossible for him to become corrupted.

The battles became very tiring. Fighting was both in defense from the human's attacks, as well as their dark energies that could corrupt the demons. While their powers gave them a great advantage, they also held great weakness for the corruption, making it truly a double-edged blade to weild. The stories that were passed down from humans recall only those demons corrupted from the energies; those who rampage about freely with no mind to consequences.

To top it all off, while the demons fought for their lives and their sanity, the humans had justified the war they raged by saying it was for their own survival, and protection from the monsters that threatened them.

When the humans had attacked, of course the demons fought back. It started with a petty battle, a little skirmish, but when the humans saw the demon's powers, they grew fearful. Many spread rumors of demons being such horrible creatures, and soon they all started lusting for a fight.

Ghirahim sighed, leaning against the tree's roots as he recalled the history. He summoned another dagger and fiddled with it absentmindedly as his mind continued to replay old memories.

The humans had fought with the impression that they were defending themselves against truly horrible monsters. The demons fought back, first in their own defense, but as the human's rage and greed grew, they wanted to take more and more from the demons. As the demons were exposed further to the corruption of the humans, rage and greed developed in their race as well.

There were several battles, but only one was stuck in his memory unlike any of the others. The one battle that Ghirahim recalled more vividly than the rest. While he had been in countless, this one was the worst, the one that no other battle could live up to.

It was on a day he had battled alongside Desmere, and while the day was bright like a day of peace, they battled together as another invasion came from the human forces. Ghirahim was there as Desmere's sword, proudly being wielded until he had to change back to fight for himself with his own two, lesser swords.

The battle was going well, and they were finally making some progress, but Ghirahim and Desmere had been separated during the fight, and Ghirahim had been unable to warn his closest friend in time when he saw the one who changed everything.

While demise was battling, using another lesser sword in Ghirahim's absence, someone had been able to sneak up on him while he was busy with two skilled humans. Fast as lightning, Demise was struck from behind, stabbed in the back both literally and figuratively as another demon rose, corrupted beyond recognition, and flung himself at the two humans Demise had been battling to kill them next.

Ghirahim dropped his battle to teleport to his master's side, finding he was still alive, if only barely, and teleported them away from the battle to get medical help. Once the medics safely hd his master, Ghirahim teleported back to the battlefield, watching as the corrupted demon tried to take over the leading role in the battle.

Ghirahim could feel the boiling darkness within the demon, a skilled fighter that he recalled who was one of the lords of the court. With a blade in both hands and rage all but consuming him, Ghirahim attacked the demon lord, managing to cut him in half and continue to slice him to ribbons. The battle had ceased around them, and the humans retreated.

Ghirahim knew he had fallen into a bit of corruption that day, and had to spend the entire trip back to the castle expelling it from himself. From that day, he had been titled demon lord, and from that day, Desmere had changed.

Shortly after that battle, Desmere took on a new name, Demise, and started to question everyone's loyalty. Of course, Ghirahim had given his entire loyalty to his king, and would never betray that loyalty, and was willing to throw everything down to prove that when asked. Demise wasn't satisfied though.

Knowing Ghirahim's love for his appearance, knowing it was something Ghirahim prided himself with, Demise grabbed now-demon lord by the chin. " _You will be marked by me in a place of my choosing or you'll never be wielded again!"_ Demise had said, his voice loud, clear, and full of a force no one had ever seen from him.

Ghirahim was shocked, but accepted, fearing both the idea that he would never be used as a sword again, and that his master, his closest friend, would choose someone else over him. Demise had then left his mark, a diamond shape by Ghirahim's request, on his left cheek. The mark held a great deposit of power, even though it appeared small, and bonded them together.

This was a process that was never done lightly between demons. This was something that would require a lot of trust, but Ghirahim soon after found that Demise had been deeply corrupted by the humans, and could not escape this fate. Due to the bond, Ghirahim had to follow him into this twisted path. He had to harden himself, reign in his thoughts, emotions, and actions, else he'd be punished by Demise, or worse.

Throughout the many years of battle, he felt himself slipping into this corruption as well. How couldn't he? He was magically connected to a corrupted demon, and was used in battle by him constantly. Together, they were the strongest pair on the field, and were nearly the last survivors.

The torn feelings that came when they were finally defeated was nearly too much. Ghirahim had seen his master's form changed into the greed, rage, and hatred that had consumed him, and sealed away by a being that tried to bring purity to the world.

At first, Ghirahim thought that the goddess's actions were a blessing, but he was wrong. It wasn't hard to find out that the humans were of the goddess' creations, and they they were created to be imperfect. Their own mistakes have tumbled thousands of problems over the world, and the 'pure' goddess seemed oblivious to it all.

On top of it, Demise still held power of Ghirahim. Even trapped away, in a primal, terrible form… Demise was still influencing Ghirahim to do his bidding, and there was nothing that could be done to change it. He still did not possess the strength to remove the mark on his own.

Ghirahim sighed, standing up and dusting off his white clothes. This was pointless. He hated recalling the past, so why did he do so? It was only a painful set of memories, poisoned further by the memories of life before it was corrupted as such.

With a huff, he started to pace. Where should he go now? He had to go somewhere, anywhere, something to get his mind off of these memories.

He froze as newer, more recent memories flooded into his mind.

Link… He was so passionate. Ghirahim had seen him in action, fighting for another who meant so much to him. Pure. It was a pure dedication that Ghirahim hadn't seen in years. Decades- Centuries! An air about him that he could do anything, and he even extended his hand out to a demon...

The ground started to rumble, throwing Ghirahim off balance. A distorted roar sounded in the distance and Ghirahim felt his heart drop. No… it couldn't be.

Ghirahim started running for the sealed grounds, teleporting parts of the way to get there faster. It was too soon! If Demise came back before he was ready…!

Ghirahim skid to a stop, seeing through the trees a large black mass slowly climbed up the spiraling land of the sealed grounds.

 _I have to stop him! If he makes it out then everything we've been fighting for will be lost!_ Ghirahim thought. He ran forward, summoning his swords to try and fight the beast back down. A large, hand like appendage rose from below and slammed against the ground in front of Ghirahim.

The demon lord rose his swords to strike but his body froze, unable to attack it. Black crackled along his pale skin and he recoiled as though he had been hit, dropping the swords and gripping his cheek, where the mark was burning him.

He couldn't fight it! Even in this form, even with the premonition of destruction for all that they wanted to rule. Ghirahim couldn't even strike the beast!

Before he could fight with himself again, an explosion went off right in front of him, flinging him back several meters and back into the trees. All of the air was knocked out of his lungs as he hit one of the trees, dropping to the ground limp. What was that!?

Pointed ears perked as he heard voices, and despite his burns from the explosion, Ghirahim forced himself to stand again, running back to the edge of the trees to see that there was a difference to the area he hadn't noticed before. There was a track all around the sealed grounds, with a catapult attached to it, being driven by a person Ghirahim didn't recognize.

But then he noticed Link, getting flown into the air by wind currents from below and attacking the beast with expert precision. Ghirahim watched in awe as Link downed the beast several times, running around to attack the seal on its head, and repeating the actions. Sure, he got hurt, but every time, he stood back up and fought more valiantly.

It became apparent that the explosion from earlier was due to the catapult. Another human was operating it, and was shooting at the beast's hands and head (if you can call it that) each time it tried to climb up. Soon enough, Link had delivered a strike on the stone seal that seemed to defeat the beast.

Ghirahim placed a hand over his mouth as he saw the beast's form shatter into several hundred pieces of black scales. Bile rose in his throat involuntarily at the sight, but he couldn't look away as he saw each black scale be pulled into the seal, and watched as Link recreated the seal with his sword.

When it was finally done, Ghirahim had to take a moment to steady himself. He walked back into the cover of the trees and leaned against one, sliding down as he fought the strange sensations taking his body over. It was making him physically feel ill.

After a moment, he seemed to be able to calm down. He realized there were problems that needed to be worked out within him, but he didn't know how. Watching the imprisoned be sealed filled him with a satisfaction that left him in an instinctual conflict with the desire that told him to release the imprisoned.

 _Corruption._

He had a feeling it was getting to him now, too. With shaking hands, Ghirahim stood up and summoned his swords from where he dropped them before, slashing at the tree he was leaning against until it fell. Anger, rage. He slammed one sword into its wood, trembling in this emotion and trying to expel it in the form of violence. After a moment he sighed, de-summoning his sword and sitting on the fallen log.

This was no good. He needed to see Link again. He needed help.

With this in mind, he stood up once more and walked out to see that the sealed grounds were peaceful once again. It looked nice, but there was no one to be seen.

He frowned at his luck, but soon, he saw the doors to an old temple open. Instead of revealing the green clad hero he had been hoping for, a beefy looking man came out and started to look over the catapult that was still on the tracks. Ghirahim recognized him as the one steering it earlier. If he had been helping Link, then perhaps he knew where he had gone.

With a nod at his own logic, Ghirahim snapped his fingers and teleported over.

Groose was checking to make sure his precious grooseanator was still working fine after the battle. He had checked the gears and the ropes, and everything appeared to still be in working order. Satisfied, he turned around to go back into the temple, promptly letting out a loud scream and falling backwards when he bumped into the demon lord, who had been standing right behind him.

"What the- how did you- who are you!?" the young man asked, scrambling to stand up and get into a defensive position.

Amused by this, Ghirahim took a step back and clicked his tongue, putting his hands together behind his back. "That's quite disrespectful, you know, and I would be more inclined to answer if you were less inclined to attack." he said.

Groose seemed confused at his words, and that let his guard down a little. How amusing, the little human must be really dimwitted. Was he really a friend of Link?

Shaking his head Ghirahim took another step back. "I'm not here to waste time." Ghirahim started, turning to look at the temple. "Do you know where the sky child has gone? I need to speak with him." Ghirahim said calmly.

Groose furrowed his brows together, not sure what the demon lord had meant. Ghirahim looked back at the silence, and it took him a moment to realize that he has said a nickname he had given to Link, and that others wouldn't know it.

"Link. I'm looking for Link." he simplified, starting to lose his patience.

Recognition took over Groose's features before they contorted into a suspicious glare. "What do you want with him?" he asked, wary.

Ghirahim could understand his caution, even if the boy didn't know why he was being so cautious. This was important stuff, after all.

"I simply wish to talk to him." Ghirahim replied. "... as I have already said. And I would appreciate if you do not waste my time, I happen to be in a rush." Ghirahim added, his temper starting to flare a little.

The red-head seemed thoughtful before coming to some sort of conclusion. "Well too bad for you, I don't know where he went. Who are you, and why are you looking for him?" Groose asked, hostility creeping into his voice. "And don't give me that 'I just want to talk to him' bullshit. He's got enemies, and I am not about to give him up-"

Before groose could finish he was slammed into the ground. "I told you not to waste my time! I'm in a fowl mood and if you have a shred of self perseverance then you will tell me where he is!" Ghirahim snarled angrily at the red head.

Groose had been stunned still at ghirahim's speed. Had he teleported? Groose had put up a little struggle, but found that he couldn't power his way out from under Ghirahim's lean figure. Groose gasped as he felt his lungs burn from a sudden added pressure, making it hard to breathe. "I-I don't know! R-really I-"

In a bout of rage Ghirahim picked groose from the ground and slammed him back down. "Worthless." he growled, before walking off. Groose managed to move up just in time to see the diamond visuals as Ghirahim teleport away.

The sealed grounds was now silent, eerily so after the Demon Lord had exited the scene. Groose slowly walked back to the doors of the temple, holding his now bleeding nose to try and stop the flow.

There was a slight fumble as he pushed the doors open, slipped in and pushed them close. He wanted to tell the old woman about everything that had just happened, but then he saw the gate of time in its full glory for the first time. Mouth agape, he dropped the hand holding his nose as he stared at it, and took a hesitant step forward, having momentarily forgotten why he had come back in.

"Child, why are you bleeding? I heard yelling from outside." A voice startled Groose out of his stupor and he jumped, flinching away from the voice and leaning against the door. When he looked up, he only saw the old woman standing there, giving him a rather concerned look.

Grose turned his attention to her, seeing her sitting calmly in a stool near the steps to the gate. After a moment, he relaxed, and recalled what he had just gone through. "I- uh.." he paused to clear his throat and wipe his face on his arm. "Some weirdo came and pushed me into the ground." he said, simplifying the story to try and seem less weak.

The woman made an upset sound at this, and motioned to a stool that she had set up nearby. "Can you tell me who did this to you? You can simply describe them to me if you have to." she requested.

Groose nodded, sitting down and turning to her. "Well, he was really strange. His clothes were all white, and his skin was too… so was his hair. He had a red cape on though. What weirdo wears a cape? Oh and his hair was strange too, covering half of his face. He was strangely strong for his size too… I couldn't push him off. And he was asking where Link was." Groose explained.

The woman frowned. "I see." she said softly. "I know who it was you met, and why he was searching for Link. However, he could have easily killed you, and he shows no mercy. What confuses me is why he didn't." she said.

Groose shuddered, easily believing her words from the earlier display he had seen. "Not really reassuring…" he muttered.

The old woman continued. "I understand your fear. A few thousand years ago I fought that very man myself. His name is Ghirahim, and he is a demon lord who works for the imprisoned. He seeks the power to restore the imprisoned back to its original form, and to do that, he seeks the power of the goddess. He searches for Zelda." She explained.

Groose's jaw nearly hit the floor. "Demon? Like, a real demon? Those exist? Woah, woah, back up… You fought him _thousands_ years ago!? Just how old are you?!" he asked, his voice rising in his disbelief.

The woman nodded slowly. "Yes, demons exist. For those thousands of years I've been here, protecting Zelda from when we traveled to the past, not that long ago by this timeline. However, you must understand that Ghirahim is cunning, and for him to defeat Link would mean that Zelda may never awaken, and should Ghirahim find Zelda or this gate of time, Demise will return to his original power, and our world will be lost." she explained, bowing her head slightly. "We must never let him find this gate of time." she said softly.

Groose's face hardened. "So we basically just gotta keep him away, right? If he comes near, we just gotta beat him up!" he said, making a motion of punching his own open palm.

The woman hummed. "Few people can face him. In my youth, I merely was able to avoid getting hurt by him. Link, however, may be the only one I know strong enough to defeat him. We must put our faith in him."

"Oh." Groose said rather dumbly. He sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess. But we gotta help somehow!" he said, working himself up at the thought of if.

The woman shook her head. "No, we must simply be patient. There is a path for our hero to take, we simply must wait for it to take its course. Any interference could cause great changes, most that would end in disaster."

Groose sighed and nodded, dropping back into his seat. "Well… Either way, I'll do my best to protect Zelda, too. Even if it's not what Link does." he said, looking at the floor.

Stupid, worthless pompadour haired scrap of lizalfos tail! Talking to him in such a way. Should have killed him! Yes, good idea. Go back to that strange temple and kill the boy.

No, don't kill him. Don't become consumed by this. With a shake of his head, Ghirahim walked back to the tree and sat by the pond again. Why did he keep coming here? His reflection only reminded him of how many things have gone wrong.

He sighed as he stare at it anyway, taking in his nearly perfectly groomed hair that he grew to cover his mark, ruffled slightly from the recent events with the bomb flower. His outfit had some black specs on it too, that he would have to wash out sometime soon or it would be stained. He sighed, and soon started to realize his reflection was rippling. Was something coming?

Looking up in mild alarm, he glanced around, hearing a roaring from over head. When he looked up, however, he realized the roaring was simply the thundering of clouds, and small drops of rain that fell through the treetops were what made the water ripple.

"Well… That was silly." He commented to himself, putting the knuckles of two of his fingers against his forehead, his elbow resting on the back of his other hand. He sat there like that, musing over his own mistake in amusement before something sounded off it he distance.

He walked around the tree and saw the Skyview platform, a structure that was in the forest and lead to the temple that shared the platform's name. Close to it, he was a familiar figure that made his breath hitch, and caused him to hide behind the closest thing; a tree. At least it provided him some protection from the rain now.

Peeking out from behind it, he saw that Link was slashing a some Guay angrily, using various methods to take them out. Eventually, there were none left, and he sighed, now drenched from the rain, and walked back under the cover of the structure he was near.

Ghirahim saw him drop the sword unceremoniously on the ground before curling up against the back wall. The boy sat like this for a while, and Ghirahim had contemplated if he should approach or not.

Soon though, he saw a bokoblin who was also seeking shelter come in from the side and swiftly teleported behind the creature. The blue skinned beast quickly saw Link, and started running towards him with a battle cry, a butcher's knife held high to strike.

Before it could make three steps toward the hero, however, it poofed into smoke, and a black dagger fell in its place.

Link, of course, looked up when he heard the cry, scrambling towards his sword. When he saw the dagger, however, he scrambled backwards instead, looking around frantically until his eyes landed on Ghirahim's red and white form.

There was a tense silence between them before Link finally spoke. "What are you doing here?"

The dagger disappeared when Ghirahim flicked his wrist dismissively, and took a few seemingly calm steps towards Link. "I need to have a word with you." He said, before glancing down at the boy's sword. "Though I should mention that it is unwise to leave your sword laying around like that." he added offhandedly.

The demon paused at the sword and leaned down to pick it up, however as soon as he got close, a spark ignited at his fingertips and caused his whole arm to recoil from the damage it caused. There was a soft hiss at it, but this prompted ghirahim to take a closer look at the sword.

He sighed. "...Especially now that it is the Master Sword. I'm sure Fi would not appreciate being left on the ground like that." he added, turning back to the hero.

"I don't care!" Link said harshly, surprising Ghirahim. "I don't care how Fi feels. She obviously doesn't care about me! Or Zelda, for that matter! She doesn't care either! She…" Link's outburst quickly died off when he mentioned Zelda, and he turned his head away angrily, scooting back to the wall and pulling his knees up again.

Ghirahim blinked in surprise. He had never seen Link look so…. Broken. He had seen the boy beaten within an inch of his life on various occasions and always stood strong, but now… he was so weak and upset… he was so vulnerable.

 _Kill him._ A voice told the demon. _Everything can be fixed, you just have to kill him now!_

Ghirahim shook his head. "She used you, didn't she?" he asked, looking away as well. "I know that feeling well." he added in a somber tone, looking down at the ground sadly.

After a moment, Ghirahim walked over, kneeling in front of to Link and unclasped his cloak to wrap it around the younger boy's body. Since Ghirahim had been under a tree, it was still mostly dry. He felt Link flinch from the contact, but continued his actions anyway, before moving to sit next to him against the wall.

There was a silence between the two of them, filled only by the sound of rain falling all around them. After a while, Link wiped his face and stood up, walking to his sword and picking it up, moving to put it back on it's sheath. Hen he noticed Ghirahim's cloak was in the way, he took it off, put his sword away and held the red material back towards Ghirahim. "I should go." he said, barely above a whisper.

Ghirahim stood up and walked over, looking down at the hero with a stern expression. "Do you want to, though?" he asked, taking the cloak, though with some hesitancy.

Link was silent, bowing his head and turned to walk back out into the rain, to the nearest bird statue. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. "It will be dark soon. I don't really know what you do in the sky but perhaps it would be wiser to stay down here for the night." Ghirahim suggested softly.

Link shook his head. "I have nowhere to stay." he said, half turning to look at Ghirahim, but keeping his head bowed, his face hidden.

"I have a small place you can stay at. It's not very big, but it will keep you warm and dry." Ghirahim offered. "It's not far from here." he added after.

There was a silence from Link as he seemed to think this over. The silence extended when he was fighting with himself over his requirements to return to the sky, the caution of going into enemy territory, the need to be with someone who didn't depend on him to fix everything, and how much he simple didn't want to return to skyloft, where he'd be reminded of his entire past with zelda. He realize he was making excuses to avoid going to skyloft, and for once, just for once, he would like to indulge himself in his reasonings not to go where he had to next. Not yet.

With his mind finally made up, he nodded. "Okay." he said softly.

Ghirahim felt himself relax, and nodded return. "The easiest way to get there is to teleport. Will you be fine with that, Sky Child?" he asked.

Link finally looked up when he heard his nickname, remembering who it was he was talking to. He looked into the one eye from ghirahim that he could see, as though searching for something. After another silent moment, he nodded again. "Okay." he said again, just as softly as before.

Ghirahim had stared for a moment when Link looked up, eyes red and tear stains all down his cheeks. He had been crying? When the young Skyloftian spoke again, Ghirahim seemed to snap back to reality and took a step closer. "I need to hold you for this. Is that alright?" he asked again.

Link took less time before nodding again, taking a step closer to the demon lord. Ghirahim re-wrapped the cloak around Link before he wrapped one arm around him, using it as a barrier between his arm and the Master sword. "It would help if you held onto me too." He suggested offhandedly, though he didn't expect the hero to do so.

When Link did wrap his arms around Ghirahim's torso, it surprised the demon. In that moment of surprise, he felt Link hug him tighter. This physical contact was strange to ghirahim, who hadn't had such contact in many years. Sure he had offered for link to hold him too, but for some reason, this felt more intimate….

After the initial shock washed away, Ghirahim looked down at the hero and wrapped his other arm around him, holding him close as well. He was not used to this, but he hoped his actions were comforting enough. Something inside him seemed starved for this kind of affection, but recalling how he had to keep his emotions in check, he knew he couldn't let the moment last too long.

Soon enough, Ghirahim pulled back, but only the slightest bit when he felt link's grip tighten. With a soft hum, he lowered his gaze to the boy and spoke up just enough to be heard over the rain. "Hold on." It was Link's only warning before Ghirahim moved a hand and snapped his fingers, teleporting the both of them away.

* * *

A/N: For the sake of simplicity, the explanation on why the old lady (Impa) is thousands of years old and not just a descendant is because of Hylia's magic that comes from Zelda. Think of it as an anti-aging spell that makes her age reeeeaaaaallly slowly and stuff.

I just really need an explanation for that or it's going to bug me. Thank you. Goodbye. See you in chapter 4.


	4. Shelter for a Night

Link clenched his eyes shut, his body tensing automatically as he felt as though they were falling. It reminded him of when he once accidentally fall off of Skyloft, and one of the knights had to catch him. In this case, however, he felt strong arms around him, and when he opened his eyes, he realized he was still clinging to the man who had teleported them.

Link gulped and slowly released the demon, looking around, but unable to see much besides a strange shape to his side.

He heard Ghirahim back away, and shortly after, a small lantern had been lit, allowing Link to see. He was inside a wooden structure, safe from the rain. The strange shape he was able to see earlier was a window, next to a wooden door that was right next to him. To his right, he saw a relatively small wooden table where Ghirahim had set the lamp down on, with a single chair next to it. There were a couple books on the table as well, though Link didn't bother trying to figure out what they were.

He saw the room also had a fireplace on the opposing wall, made of clay mostly, and the room had a small carpet in the middle, making it feel more home-y. There was a large wooden chest across from the entrance of the room, and above it was a weapon stand with four matching swords on it. Link recognized them from his battles with Ghirahim.

Near the chest was a doorway with no door that lead to another room. Link guessed it was the bedroom, but he wasn't sure.

"I… think I expected something bigger." he said softly.

Ghirahim laughed, and that startled Link, especially when he realized he never heard the demon lord laugh before. Well, not like this… Not some amused chuckle. "I already told you it's not very big." He said, leaning against the wall, next to the table.

Link stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't think I've ever heard you… chuckle like that before." he said, dumbfounded. "Or smile." he added when the demon smiled at him in amusement.

"We haven't been allies for very long, Sky child, there is a lot you don't know about me." Ghirahim explained simply. "I believe all I know about you is just from watching you while you were undoing everything I was trying to do." he added in a deceptively calm tone.

Link cringed at that. "I'd say sorry, but.."

"Let's not talk about that. Not right now at least." Ghirahim said, motioning to the single chair near the table. "I need to talk to you anyhow."

Link frowned, but slowly moved to the chair, sitting in it. He remembered that he was still wearing Ghirahim's cloak when he sat down, as he had to move it to avoid sitting on it. He debated giving it back, but for the time being just gave Ghirahim his attention. Somehow, he felt fear at what Ghirahim would say, but tried his best not to show it.

Ghirahim sighed and looked out the window, crossing his arms as he watched the rain fall against the glass. "... I need your help." he finally said, grimacing at his own words, his hands clenching at his arms. The whole situation was against him but he was left with nearly no other options if he wanted to make it out of this with his sanity, and his life.

Link looked up at him suddenly, mouth agape. That's what this is about. He recalled Ghirahim saying that he couldn't help, so hearing this now was quite the shocker. "What… do you need help with?" Link asked, obviously not quite understanding the situation, or how he might be able to help.

Ghirahim's gaze dropped to the ground. "Perhaps now is not the best time to request help from you, after whatever it was you just… witnessed." he said, starting to lose his nerve about the whole ordeal.

Link made a face as his memories flashed with Zelda in them and shook his head. "I could… use a distraction right now." he admitted, hoping it was enough to get Ghirahim to open up some. Truth be told, he was curious, and did need some kind of distraction right now.

Ghirahim's expression turned to that of a pained one and he sighed. "I don't know how you can help or what can be done but… I need out. I can't do this anymore." Ghirahim said, shifting to wrap his arms around himself so that he was holding his shoulders. "I need someone to defeat Demise. To truly defeat him but I can't be there." he continued. Was he shaking…?

Link blinked, not knowing a lot of what Ghirahim was talking about. Feeling the demon needed comfort, and perhaps a place to sit, he stood up from the chair and brought it to the other side of the table. He set it down just by Ghirahim and leaned against the table, watching him worriedly. "I don't understand, can you start from the beginning?" He asked in a gentle tone.

Ghirahim looked at Link for a moment, before slumping his shoulder and sitting down in the offered chair. Once seated he bowed his head and had to take a moment to stop his body from shaking too much.

"I am bound to demise by a type of magic bond. It's very powerful and even in the feral form that he's taken, he still has control over me." he said slowly, lifting a hand to his face and pressing his palm against the mark. "Varia was right. He's become corrupted and I know it. And he's corrupting me. He's pressuring me to do things I don't entirely want to do."

Link watched Ghirahim closely, recalling what happened in the temple and frowned. "Well, there has to be a way to undo the bond." Link said, trying to figure it out.

Ghirahim simply shook his head. "Most bonds between demons can be broken fairly easily, but this is a marked bond." he explained, though he kept his head bowed. "There is a mark on my body that has been left by him. You can think of it as an anchor for the magic. As long as it is there, he will still have influence over me. A marked bond can only be undone in a couple ways…"

Link looked at him curiously, silently waiting to hear what it was. When no continuation came, Link's curiosity got the better of him. "How can they be removed?" He asked.

Ghirahim was unresponsive for a moment before he finally spoke again. "I need to have the mark taken out, or I need to make a new bond of a higher power." he said. "If it were to be removed it'd either have to be physically, or magically. Physically removing is actually less painful." he said, before pausing and looking away. "Technically, the one who created the bond can remove it too, but in this case, it's not going to happen." he replied. Not that that method was painless either.

Link frowned. "Physically removed?" he repeated in a questioning tone. That sounded… really painful. He didn't even want to know what the magical way to remove it felt like.

Ghirahim nodded in reply. "Yes. All of the flesh that the mark is connected to must be cut off from the rest of the body." he explained a little further.

Link gulped. "Where is it…?" he asked worriedly. He was unsure if he really wanted an answer and took a step back when Ghirahim looked up again.

Ghirahim's gaze fell to the floor, but he looked back at Link as he moved to hold his hair out of his face, revealing the black diamond that lay under his left eye. "Here. it's a little larger under the surface as well. Whenever I do something against demise's wishes, it burns me. Kinda like that room in the temple." he said, before dropping his hair so that it hang over his face again. "It still hurts now… but at a... tolerable level." He added, though his voice dropped to a whisper.

Link couldn't help the way he stared at the marking. "So… you don't want to… cut it out." he concluded, though as soon as he spoke he winced at his own choice of words. "What about that other part, the one with a stronger bond sort of thing?" he asked.

This seemed to bring out a more reasonable side to Ghirahim. He leaned back and spoke, even though he had a rather upset expression. "To have a stronger bond means to tie my magic to that of someone else's. This bond is one way- I didn't leave any mark on Demise, so I essentially need to find someone who's stronger than him, and willing to create and accept a bond. Not only that, but it'd have to be a two-way bond. The thing is, I don't know anyone who could do that, since pretty much every demon I know cut ties with me after Demise was defeated in battle some couple thousand years ago. Not that I'd want to be bonded so closely with any random demon anyway." he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

There was a pause from Ghirahim has he thought back again, and suddenly he bolted upright. "It was you!" he suddenly yelled, turning to Link. "You're the one who- oh son of a- how did I not see it before? The green, the sword…!"

Link jumped back and leaned away, startled and scared by Ghirahim's outburst at him. When the demon moved to get up, Link instinctively crouched and reached for his sword, but paused as he saw the demon simply pace about the room.

"Of course, that makes sense now. That stupid goddess. Don't you- no, I suppose you won't remember. After all, you're just a reincarnation." Ghirahim continued, speaking mostly to himself.

"Wait.. what?" Link asked.

Ghirahim sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "In the ancient stories… 'Demise, a demon king with a greed to take over the world sought to wipe out humanity. With his demons and minions at his side, he won many battles against the humans, until they had but one city left." Ghirahim spoke, as though reciting an old story.

"The goddess had given the humans a blessed sword that would only respond to a true hero, and a scarlet bird to protect that hero in battle. The hero chosen by the goddess had been able to defeat the demon king in battle, and with the power of the sword, he was able to raise the city into the sky for the humans to live on." He paused. "The goddess gave up her goddess status to be with the human she had grown so fond of, and with her power, she and the hero would be reincarnated again, should peril return to the world.' So the stories say." Ghirahim finished, sighing afterwards.

"But there is many things the stories left out. Demise was never truly defeated. The goddess had changed his form into that of the primal corruption that had consumed him, and sealed him away in the place you now know as the sealed grounds. Since the seal is growing weak, you and the brat were returned to the world to defeat him again. It's so obvious now." Ghirahim said, pausing in his tracks and looking at Link.

Link jerked back when Ghirahim looked at him again, his eyes cold and calculating. It reminded Link of how he was before they made their truce in the fire temple, and honestly, it was scary. Before either of them could speak up, however, a glowing from link's back, under Ghirahim's cloak, radiated around the room. Shortly after, a glowing sphere of light emanated from the Master sword before it took form between the demon and skyloftian.

"Master." Fi addressed, bowed respectfully before Link before straightening up once again. "It has come to my understanding that you are being educated further on the development that lead to my creation and your current situation." she said, before turning to Ghirahim. "I shall apologize in advance for anything that I may say that can be taken offensively, as I was not created with the emotions to understand verbal offence."

There was a pause as her floating form lowered to the floor, so that she was standing as they were. With her little introduction, she had both of their attentions. "From all accordances of my calculations, demons are creatures that are filled with greed, anger, and a lust to dominate this world. Is this information accurate?" She asked, turning to Ghirahim. "According to my knowledge, a demon's lifespan has not been recorded, and they are looked to as immortal beings. With this in mind, I expect you to know of history forgotten to the Hylians, also known as Hylia's Humans, or Skyloftains, that has not been in record for me to keep." she said, her voice monotone the entire time she spoke.

Ghirahim looked to her. "You're information is not 100% Accurate." he replied with a slight snarl.

Fi bowed her head. "Understood. The only information that I have access to is that which Hylia bestowed upon me upon my creation, and that which I have learned by Master Link's side during his journey." she replied. "I request that you fill me in on the information that is missing or incorrect."

Ghirahim seemed to contemplate this for a while before sighing. He oughta tell someone, right? "Fine. Hylia and her… Hylians, was it? Have never known the truth about demons. We are seen as evil creatures due to the war that occurred those thousands of years ago, due to the horrible stories the hylians had spread." he said, crossing his arms.

"In the stories mentioned, demons where wrathful creatures who came from a world beneath the surface, immediately depicted as greedy and destructive. No, that's not what happened. We demons have our own… plane of existence, if you will, where we thrive. We're beings who are naturally close to the properties of magic, and thus often times we have an abundance of skills with them. However, this affinity leaves us vulnerable to more…. Energy based problems. Like a hylian can get sick, a demon can get energy blockages or corrupted magic." he explained, looking directly at Fi, who was taking in all the information with a straight face.

There was a pause in his explanations. "Anyway, there are many places where our world connect to this one, which can be found by…. Well, a type of magic in the air. We don't often leave our realm to this one, and after recent events, we've closed a lot of these connections, so it's much harder. The humans-or hylians, I suppose- here aren't so in tune with their energy, and corruption among them is common, though subtle. If a demon has no experience with it, they can be infected, and then become the creatures most hylians fear and tell stories about." he explained.

"Now that you know some important aspects of our race, I'll tell you what happened. We don't only live in our realm. There's a lot in this realm that is beneficial to us, so we started setting up… well little towns I suppose. We did our best not to bother with the people of this realm, staying in deep forests of caves for the most part. Once, a demon left our village and visited the humans. We couldn't tell right away he was corrupted, but he started to spread it by getting others to go to human towns as well. Once it was a recognized problem, The rest of us tried to find a way to stop it, or at least control it." he paused and grit his teeth, his arms crossing over his chest again, as he looked away.

"The humans saw that we could use magic and rashly attacked us. We tried to defend ourselves, and even our king had been there, fighting to protect his people… but… he was corrupted as well." The demon lord's face grew dark as he recalled the bitter memories. Hi jaw was clenched and he seemed to be unable to continue at the moment.

Fi watched him for a moment before taking a few steps over. "By my understandings, Corruption is what you call a plague within one's mind, soul, or energy, correct?" She asked.

Ghirahim looked back at her for a moment, before nodding silently. "More or less. It can be difficult to explain."

There was another silence before Fi spoke up again. "May I scan you?"

"What?" "What?" Link and Ghirahim both asked at once.

Fi looked around as though she was unaware she said something strange. "I wish to scan him. I feel that perhaps I can sense this 'corruption', and may be able to determine more about it. I was under the impression that it was polite to ask before performing any sort of act on another being?" she said, actually sounding a little confused.

A light blush dusted Link's cheeks at her choice of words and shrugged, looking away a little. "Honestly, this is all a little… confusing to me." he muttered.

Fi nodded. "That is understandable as most hylians are limited to a short life span, and that which will have had less time to learn and inevitably understand less due to their young age." She said, returning to her monotone voice. She then turned back to Ghirahim. "I also believe I am still lacking information regarding demon life-spans, however I am more… interested in the corruption that was previously mentioned."

Ghirahim fixed her with a wary look. "The last time you did something for me wasn't a particularly pleasant experience." Ghirahim said cautiously.

Fi nodded, quite aware of the situation Ghirahim was talking about. "Also understandable. My actions were in direct regard to that of the goddess. However, because of the actions that have taken place between the two of you, I appear to be able to choose how I wish to act with a little more freedom. So, if Master Link says I may, I wish to perform a scan. I have no intent on harming you in any way." She informed him.

Ghirahim looked over to Link for a moment, but sighed and nodded. "Fine." He said, moving back to a wall and leaning on it, now able to see Link easier from his new spot. Link merely nodded quietly.

Fi nodded and looked at Ghirahim intensely. She seemed to radiate some energy, the fabric around her arms shifting from it, and Ghirahim seemed noticeably jumpy from her actions. After a moment, the strange feeling faded and Fi turned back to Link. "Master, I detect an incredible amount of power from this being. I believe I have also found what is called by his kind to be corruption. It seems to be centered… in this area." she reported, lifting one arm a little and pointing it towards Ghirahim's face in a vague gesture.

Ghirahim seemed upset. "Hooray for pointing out the obvious." he muttered darkly, looking away.

"However." Fi started up again. "It appears that the strange dark energy is distinctly separate from that which flows through this being's body naturally." she said, turning back to Ghirahim. "It is as though you have another energy intruding upon your own. I feel a resemblance between this energy and that of the imprisoned. Is it connected?" She asked.

Ghirahim looked at her irritably and sighed. "Yes. The energy is from a mark that was left on me by my master, before he was turned into the imprisoned. What about it?" he asked.

Fi fixed him with a look before looking away. "The information I have now is not yet relevant, but may become so over time. My calculations tell me that it is 90% best left unsaid until a more appropriate time. Alternatively, I would like to learn more about…" She paused as she heard Link yawn, and bowed her head respectively, returning to floating just above the floor. "I apologize for taking up so much time, Master Link. I recommend that you get some rest." She said, before promptly returning to the sword.

Ghirahim frowned at the sword. "That left more questions than answers." he muttered, before seeming to notice just how tired Link had become. He has had a very tiring day, after all, and was barely standing on his feet.

"Come on, there's a bed in the back you can use." Ghirahim said, waving an arm towards Link.

Link nodded, to tired now to really comprehend the complicated stuff Fi was saying, and stumbled after Ghirahim towards the back room. When he got inside, he saw a small, basic dresser and a simple bed that looks like it's never been used.

Link fumbled to get the cloak off, and without much finesse, he pulled off his belts and chainmail as well. He dropped it unceremoniously next to the bed and flopped onto it without any grace, before looking up at Ghirahim, who still stood in the doorway, now holding the lantern that he lit earlier.

"Sorry for taking the only bed…" Link muttered drowsily. He felt bad that he was being so inconsiderate of Ghirahim as a host, but was much too tired to do anything about it.

Ghirahim shook his head. "Just rest. I'll be here in the morning." he said. If there was anything else he said, it was lost to Link, who let is sore body finally rest.

Ghirahim looked at the way his body was sprawled out on the bed and walked to the dresser, pulling a blanket out from the lowest drawer and throwing it over the Skyloftian's body. Now to spend the night trying not to kill him while he slept. This will be just _grand_.

With a sigh, Ghirahim walked back out to the main living area, moving the chair some so that he could sit at the table. He shuffled through the books and eventually pulled one out, opening it's pages and snapping his fingers, summoning a quill and ink.

He spent the next few hours going through the book, reading it and making notes in it, before sighing. _Kill him. It would be so easy. Just walk in quietly and you can slit his throat. No sound, no pain._ The voice really hadn't shut up all night.

"So you know."

Ghirahim jumped in surprise, bumping the leg of the table and knocking over the ink. Thankfully, his reflexes were fast enough that he grabbed the book and the bottle before the pages were ruined, and too much ink was wasted. Upon setting them back down and summoning a rag, he looked up to see Fi hovering by the other side of the table, though she was glowing very dimly.

"You're energy seems to be holding its own against that corruption in that mark under your left eye. I am not certain why, but you appear to be resistant to it… more so now than before." she said, quietly.

"What do you mean?" Ghirahim asked, looking tired, mostly from fighting the voice. He dropped the rag over the ink spill half heartedly, letting the tan fabric turn black from the ink.

"Today I can sense your energy, separate from the imprisoned. A few days ago when we fought, I could not. I have no true reason to tell you this, however my calculations tell me that it is information that is relevant to you, so I decided to share it." Fi said.

There was a pause where she looked back towards the doorway to the bedroom. "Also." she started again, before looking back. "As one sword to another, I wish to thank you for watching over Link tonight, and fighting to keep him safe." She said, before her form disappeared completely.

Ghirahim looked at the spot she once was, dim now that it wasn't illuminated by the light she radiated. That sounded eerie, should he be worried? He shook his head and looked back down at the table. Perhaps he should get some rest, too. When was the last time he slept? Hmmm…. Probably about a week ago… ish.

Shaking his head, Ghirahim looked at the window to see if it was still raining. It appeared to be, however it was much lighter than earlier that night. Well, he could manage…

Ghirahim silently walked towards the bedroom and silently grabbed his cloak from the pile that Link left of his possessions. _He's right there! He's weak! He's the only thing stopping you from your goal, and it's an obstacle you can remove easily. Just take a dagger and-_

"No." Ghirahim hissed quietly, turning and walked to the front door. "He is important to my health. I must not kill him." he hissed back to the voice. With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared from the doorway in a show of diamonds.


	5. Morning Flight

Link groaned and tossed in his bed, rolling over and pulling the covers with him as he curled up. He was currently lost between a world of awake and asleep, trying to stay in the dreams and running from them at the same time. He clenched his eyes shut as he delved a little further into the dream he had been having.

He was fighting the imprisoned, but it never seemed to get weaker, or ever give up it's climb out of the sealed grounds. Groose wasn't there to help him, and on his own, Link was having trouble stopping him.

One particular gust of air shot link higher into the sky, further than he's even been pushed up by these gusts. The only time a gust had carried him this high was when he was returning to the sky. The ground got further and further away from him as he held onto his sailcloth tightly, fearing he'd slip up and fall.

Soon, a familiar feeling came to him, and as he looked around, he saw his loftwing flying towards his quickly. It seemed worried, and he could see Zelda's loftwing right behind his. They both flew at him as fast as he's ever seen them fly. Suddenly, the gust that sent Link shooting up stopped, and he was then falling back down to the surface.

He saw that to his side, his and Zelda's loftwings were diving for him, but were stopped by an invisible force, keeping them trapped above him and squawking in alarm. Link looked down again, and saw Zelda right in front of him. There! She's right there! He reached out to grab her but something stopped him, pulling him up from falling as he watched Zelda plummet below, into the imprisoned open mouth.

"No!" he cried, reaching out for her and struggling in the grip of something behind him.

"Look what you've done now, hero." a dark voice said from behind him.

Link turned, seeing a figure that was all brown-black, with white stripes and hair. There was a diamond shape in his chest, and it didn't take link long to figure out who it was. "Ghirahim!?" he said, startled.

"Like this form? Master gave it to me! It's perfect!" He yelled out triumphantly, holding his arms out as though to display himself. "We will rule the world together!"

A distorted roar sounded beneath the two of them, who were now standing on a semi-transparent platform, and Link looked down to see the Imprisoned shift.

"No…." He whispered.

Link opened his eyes, staring at a wooden wall. It was still dark in the room, but light from the next room over allowed him to see.

He sat up in the bed and looked around to remember where he was, and put a hand to his face as he recalled his dream. Shocked, he pulled his hand away to see water on it, and realized he had been crying.

Why? He closed his eyes and through about the dream, seeing Zelda get eaten, and ghirahim….

Link frowned. Something was off about him, and it worried him. Was it just the dream? His dreams lately have been more realistic and prophetic since his adventure had begun… but what did this one mean?

With a sigh he rubbed the smudged streaks of saltwater off his cheeks and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Ah, right. He was at a place Ghirahim brought him to.

He put his armor back on, and walked out to the other room but frowned when he realised that Ghirahim wasn't there. Didn't he say that he would be here in the morning?

Link hummed thoughtfully and walked to the front door, opening it slowly and looking around. The forest was dense here, but there was a small clearing outside the doorway. The rain had stopped entirely, but the plants were all still wet, and with how the birds were chirping, the whole place appeared peaceful.

Link smiled as this helped him relax, and he started to look around. There were so many large trees here, and some of them had fruit on them too. Seeing an apple on one tree, he pulled out his slingshot and knocked it down, picking it up after it fell to the forest floor.

Link pulled at the edge of his clothing, using a corner of the shirt he wore under his chainmail to wipe the apple off before taking a bite out of it. It was really good! It was crispy, and sweet, and just a little tangy. As he wondered if there was more, he turned back to look at the house house he had previously spent the night in.

Link blinked, at first not seeing the house, but when the familiar shape of the door stood out to him, he realized that it was a wooden structure built into the base of a large tree. That's amazing!

He shuffled through his items and pulled out his hook-claws, looking into the tree for some ivy. As soon as he saw a patch, he shot one claw to it and pulled himself up, climbing onto a branch and looking around from this new vantage point. While he wasn't above all the other trees, he could see a lot further now, and recognized the strange swirly-shaped wood that grew around the Skyview temple a little ways off.

After admiring the view a little, he sighed and leaned against the trunk of the large tree. This place really was peaceful in the morning. He wondered if he could find a bird statue nearby, or if he could find a path to use to get to here in the future.

As he started to look around the foliage to try and discover a way to transverse to and from this secluded spot, a triangle of red caught his eye in the tree. When he looked at it closer, he realised it was a fabric, a familiar one at that.

Steeling himself, Link slowly climbed around the tree towards the branch he saw the fabric hanging off of, and as soon as he was high enough, he settled on a nearby branch and looked over at Ghirahim, who was sitting against the trunk of the tree, resting peacefully with his head bowed.

So this was him sleeping? He looked so nice like this. Link smiled and leaned his shoulder against the tree, watching the demon lord. It was so nice to sit peacefully like this with him. Every time they had been together so far was when one or both of them were upset in some way.

Link closed his eyes and rested for a while, listening to the songbirds as they sang and the wind rustling the leaves of the forest. After a while, he dropped down to a lower branch, not wanting to disturb Ghirahim too much, and pulled out the harp he had been given back when Zelda ran through the gate of time with the other woman.

Not wanting to dwell on the memories, Link strummed the strings gently, listening to the forest and playing the notes absentmindedly. Unbeknownst to him, he started to strum a slow version of a song that would later be known as the song of the lost woods. Of course, it was a bit sloppy, and not exactly the song many will know down the road, but it still greatly resembled it.

As he played, Link closed his eyes, listening to the notes, playing them all gently and occasionally messing with the song a little to see if another pattern fit better into the melody. He paid no mind to the time that passed, nor the way the shadows of the leaves moved as the sun rose, losing himself to this peaceful moment.

Ghirahim slowly opened his eyes, having woken by a sound that did not usually accompany a morning in the woods. The gentle harmony of a harp being played mixing with the songs of the birds in the trees, and critters on the ground.

Normally, Ghirahim would be alarmed to hear something different, but today it felt… peaceful. He had an idea of the source of the sound too, so he didn't bother moving, feeling no immediate danger, and listened as the song was played to the sound of the trees around them.

Eventually, however, he knew he had to get up. Peaceful moments never lasted forever, after all. With excellent balance, Ghirahim stood up from his seated position on the branch, and stretched his arms over his head. Despite not having a bed, he rested quite peacefully, and he was very grateful for that.

With small step out from the tree, he saw below him Link sitting on a branch, playing the melody, seeming lost in his own world. This caused a small smile to form on Ghirahim's lips, and he took one more step out, this time falling directly down, and landing gently on the branch nearest to Link.

After a moment, he decided to finally speak up. "Sleep well, Sky child?" He asked softly.

Link looked up in surprise, and quickly set the harp aside. "Um. yeah. You?" he asked.

Ghirahim hesitated with his answer, but nodded all the same. "Yes, I slept well." He replied, before looking out at the forest.

"It's really nice here." Link commented, looking out as well. They were not as high up in the tree anymore, but they could still see a good portion of the forest below them. Link's expression, however, did not hold the same peace that drifted around them, and this did not escape Ghirahim's attention.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, looking to Link.

Link sighed, pulling his knees to his chest again. Ghirahim recognized this as a bad sign. "I had a nightmare again. This one was worse than others before." he said.

Ghirahim blinked. "Oh." he said, unsure how to respond.

Link nodded. "I'm used to seeing nightmares of the Imprisoned eating Zelda. Nightmares were we were falling and before I can catch her she falls too fast and is consumed... Last night though…. I saw something different. You were there, but in a strange form. You didn't really look like you, but it was you. You were all black, or brown… with some white… and I think you said something about your master…" he said, looking out into the forest. It was clear he was seeing something very different in his mind's eye.

Ghirahim frowned as he heard this. "I know what you are talking about. Yes, I have a form like what you describe, and it is something that is granted to me by Demise. Though I do my best to avoid using it." he said, looking away.

Link looked up. "Does it have to do with the corruption?" he asked.

There was a grimace that formed on Ghirahim's face at the question. "Sort of." he started, as though he didn't really want to be explaining this. "All demons have an ability like what you see when I turn my arms black, some more powerful than others. Demise's power over me is rooted within that power, so the more I use it, the more control he has over my actions." he explained.

Link sighed, resting his chin on his knees. "Do you hate him?" he asked.

This questions came as a shock to Ghirahim. "Well…. No…. I don't think I hate him. I just… Hate what's become of him. He can't be blamed for becoming corrupted, knowing how we can be affected by those around us. I would wish for him to be returned to his original form but… I can tell already by his mark that it's rooted too deeply within him." he said.

Link looked to Ghirahim. "If his magic is in you like that, and demons can be corrupted by those around them, How are you still…. So nice?" He asked.

Ghirahim nearly choked at the question. _Nice?_ He wasn't ever described as nice. "I don't know what you are talking about." he growled, although it sounded more defiant than anything.

Link hummed softly, deciding to let the topic drop. Before long, he stood and stretched a little, wobbling on the branch he stood on since it swayed with his movements. "I don't know about you, but I could really use a flight to clear my head." he said.

The demon looked to Link curiously. "A flight?" he asked.

Link opened his mouth to reply before shutting it again, looking away. "Right, you've never been above the cloud barrier." he said softly.

Ghirahim shook his head. "No, I simply know that it exists."

Link seemed thoughtful for a moment before grinning. "How about you come with me then?" he asked, seemingly suddenly happy. "Flying always helps me feel better, I think it might help you too!" he said. "Of course, I can't fly on my own. My Loftwing helps me around." he explained.

Ghirahim seemed unsure, but for the first time ever, he's seen a bout of happiness from Link and he simply couldn't find it in himself to refuse. Especially when the mark burned a little, telling him not to. "Alright. I'm not sure how you plan to go about this though." he said in reply.

Link grinned. "Great! Follow me!" he called, jumping off the branch and falling to the ground. Right before he hit the forest floor, he opened his sailcloth and landed lightly, before pulling out his sword and cutting some underbrush to start running through the woods.

Ghirahim watched him fall, and grinned when he saw the sailcloth. After watching Link run until he could barely see the boy among the rest of the foliage, Ghirahim teleported himself closer and started to run after Link.

It nearly became a game of tag, where Link would be running in one direction and suddenly turn, throwing the demon off track for a moment. Ghirahim, of course, always found his way back on track, getting close enough to Link that he could pounce on him before the Hero took another turn.

They continued to run through the forest for a while, and Ghirahim could hear Link's enthusiastic yelling as he ran over and around obstacles. He couldn't help but notice the way he was smiling, either, as adrenaline ran through his veins while he chased Link around the forest.

He had to admit, the sky hero was in really good shape, to keep throwing him off like he was, and without any special abilities like Ghirahim had. The Demon's focus narrowed down to the skyloftian, and he single-mindedly ran after him with the thought to catch him.

The trees and foliage around him blurred together as he passed them, growing more and more focused on the green and brown outfit Link was wearing instead, trying to get closer and closer to it. Right when he was about to catch up though, Link suddenly disappeared from his sight.

A split second after, Ghirahim found himself skidding to the stop at the edge of a large cliff, with nowhere else to turn. Had link run right off the edge?! Looking down he saw nothing but the inky blackness of a deep crevice in the ground, and all around him was green and brown of various shades, not helping him find who he was looking for in hopes he hadn't fallen.

There was only a moment after panic started setting in that Ghirahim heard the hero's voice. "Ghirahim! Up here!" Ghirahim's entire thought process had cut off entirely as he frantically searched for the source of the voice. Looking , he could finally see the hero on a ledge higher than the one he fell from, holding a vine that connected to an overhanging tree.

A brief flash of rage took over Ghirahim as he saw this, and seeing Link's cheeky smile made him realise that he had _lost_ their little game. Without his consent, his body reacted before him, lips curling up in a malicious looking smile. "You can't get away that easily, Sky Child!" He called out, his voice dripping with a malicious tone. Without thinking, he teleported behind Link and wrapped his arms around the shorter male's waist.

"Caught you." Ghirahim's voice growled out, low and threatening.

Link yelped when he felt the arms wrap around him and dropped the vine he was holding. He squirmed in Ghirahim's hold for a moment before breaking into a fit of giggles. "Okay! Okay! You got me!" he said when he started to calm down.

The demon lord was shocked from the giggling, and suddenly recalled where he was. He loosened his hold on Link, unsure of exactly what just happened. His body moving without his consent was something he was quite used to, thanks to Demise, but this was completely sudden, and not totally like the feeling demsie brought forth.

 _Finally caught him, huh? Kill him._

Ghirahim unraveled himself from the hero and scowled, immidiately putting some distance between the hero and himself. How could he have let himself get so carried away? Did he _want_ to slip back into the mindless trance demise tried to keep him in at all times?

"You okay?"

Ghirahim's head snapped up as he heard the hero's voice. He clenched his jaw and nodded slowly, the action tight and controlled. "Just…. Fighting my inner demons, as one might say." he replied, using a term he's heard in the distance past.

Link continued to look at him worriedly, knowing there was something wrong, but also that he couldn't do anything about it right at that moment. "We are really close, just this way, it's by the temple." He said, pointing to the coarse, broken path that wound through the forest.

Ghirahim took a deep breath and nodded. "Right." He said, dropping his shoulders and watching as Link took a calmer pace towards the temple.

After a moment, there was a groan from Ghirahim as he looked down at his clothes. "These stains will never come out." he grumbled, looking at the white clothing that had several green, brown, and black smears all over it from their running in the woods.

Link couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe you can try a new outfit once in awhile, huh? That's all I ever see you wear." he said.

Ghirahim gave him a look. "Well these are demon fit clothing, not that you would know." He huffed, before sighing. "I can always get more later. It's just… annoying to have to get another set." he said dismissively.

Before Link could bring the topic up again, Ghirahim pointed towards the temple, specifically at the bird Statue that was right out front. "Isn't that what you are looking for?" he asked.

Link turned to look at the statue, not realizing that they had gotten there already. "Oh- yeah, it is." he said, walking over to it. "So… this is gonna be a bit like your teleporting, I think, but a lot slower since we will be flung into the sky… and then have to be caught by my loftwing." Link explained, looking somewhat sheepish at it.

Ghirahim looked at the boy and hummed. "Well, we've already experienced my travel, I… suppose it would be fair to experience yours next. What…. Should I do?" He asked.

Link looked at the statue. "Well I'll need my arms to hold onto the sailcloth, so… maybe hold onto my waist when we go up?" he suggested.

Ghirahim's eyes looked down to the Hero's waist before flicking back to his face. The hero was quite a bit shorter than the demon, and he had no idea how this would play out. Not wanting to really pass up this opportunity though, Ghirahim walked over and held his arms out to his side in a… somewhat inviting manner. "Not sure how this will work, but I'll give it a shot." he said.

Link nodded, ignoring the warmth that seeped into his cheeks and turned to the statue goddess. "It might be awkward, but just come up behind me and put your arms around me. You'll have to hold on tight when we get flown up… oh, and try to keep your body from moving too much when we go up, that way we can go higher." Link suggested.

"I'm not sure I _want_ to be higher" Ghirahim muttered.

Link couldn't help the smile that took over his features at this. "You do. That will give us more time to react, and for my Loftwing to catch us. We'll be going up really high in the beginning but then you'll have to let go of me. Once we are in the air, we'll have to kinda… fan our bodies out to make our fall slower. You'll see what I mean when we get up there. Just trust me." He said, looking over to Ghirahim with a grin.

Ghirahim took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine." he said, walking over and wrapping his arms around Link's chest, under his arms. He first had to be careful of the sword, but it didn't seem to be repulsing his as it had before while sheathed, for which he was silently grateful. He would have wrapped his arms around Link's waist as instructed, but the height difference between them made it difficult, so this had to suffice. Once he was awkwardly hugging the hero, the demon lord leaned over the boy's shoulder so his head was next to Link's. "Like this?" He asked.

Link stiffened for a moment, recalling how the demon lord had first introduced himself by teleporting behind him and leaning over his shoulder. This made Link pause, and he had to fight off a blush before nodding his head, trying to keep his focus on the bird statue. "M-mostly, yeah. Just, please try to stay off my shoulders and…. You should probably hold on tighter." He said as he pulled out his sailcloth and wrapped the corners around his hands. Once he was set, he glanced back at Ghirahim. "Ready?"

Ghirahim had to swallow back any nervousness he felt, not liking the idea of being thrown in the air to be caught by some animal he didn't know. With a deep breath, he tightened his hold, almost squeezing Link too tightly, and was far too aware of every part of their bodies that were pressed together like this. _Just squeeze a little tighter. Break the bones of his ribs. Crush his heart. It's not that hard, you just have to squeeze a little-_

"Right. Yes. I'm ready." Ghirahim spoke up, frimley trying to silence the commanding voice and aura that swarmed his mind, trying to get him to do more of Demises' bidding.

Link nodded before he bowed his head and put his hands together, making a praying at the bird statue. He mumbled under his breath for a moment, and then all of a sudden the sailcloth that he held was full as a sudden burst of wind propelled them straight up.

Ghirahim let out an undignified squeak as the ground left his feet faster than he anticipated, his grip sliding from Link's chest to his waist involuntarily, and it took all of Ghirahim's effort not to instinctively squirm to find purchase of some sort. It was so sudden, already he could see they were so much higher than the trees! He looked up and saw the cloud barrier he had heard of, and the current of air forced them up and through a large cloud tunnel that separated the sky here from below.

They continued to soar upwards before Link yelled out over the wind in their ears. "Okay.. now let go!"

Ghirahim really, _really_ didn't want to, but still he released his hold on link and found that the direction of rushing air around him had changed, and now he was falling, and fast. "I'm really starting to question the sanity of this!" Ghirahim yelled back, trying to steady himself in the air.

"Look! Do it like this!" Link called out, making a show of extending his arms and legs out so that he was parallel to the ground. After a second, he put his hands to his mouth and whistled loudly.

Ghirahim fanned his arms and legs out as Link suggested, and found that he was, in fact, falling a little slower than before. Still, the speed at which he was falling was an incredible rate, and he was already so much lower in the sky than Link was- who was more experienced with this… sport.

Suddenly, a flash of red blazed across his vision and before he knew it, he felt strong arms grab him, ceasing his falling just as fast as a splat on the ground, which he really didn't want to imagine.

"Are you shaking?"

Ghirahim looked up at Link and quickly scrambled out of the hero's hold, nearly falling off the large bird they were riding on in the process. "No!" he yelled automatically. Soon after, he realized that he was, in fact, shaking from the incident and huffed. "You would be too if you had to go through that for the first time like I did!" He added, turning his head away.

Link smiled at him and patted the bird's back. "Well, it's okay, because we have our loftwings to protect us." Link said, smiling as the bird squawked in agreement. However, it didn't seem all that pleased to have the demon lord on it's back.

Ghirahim looked at the creature in awe, for the first time really taking in the features of it. The feathers were a bright red color, unlike that of any bird he's seen on the surface, with a really large wingspan, and… a strange fluffy tail. He only vaguely recalled seeing such a thing in the ancient battles of his past. Somehow though, it seemed much more vibrant now.

After examining the bird, the demon lord looked around to see dozens of floating rocks nearby, and what looked to be a couple floating islands as well.

"It's pretty great up here. It's so peaceful, and so far away from the problems and monsters on the surface…" Link said, before sighing. "It used to be so simple before…" he added.

Ghirahim watched link with a great curiosity. Simple? How had anything ever been so simple? Everything was always so complicated. Especially now.

"Get behind me and hold on, Turning can be strange at first, and getting to the islands can also be a bit difficult." Link suddenly called out, shifting a little from where he sat. This snapped Ghirahim from whatever path of thoughts him mind was taking and he carefully shifted to sit behind link, mirroring his position for riding the loftwing.

Ghirahim could feel the bird move in response to link's own movements, the two seeming to act as one in the way they moved. Once he was seated behind the hero, He heard Link speak up again and tensed in anticipation.

"So we are gonna have to lean a little, and squeeze just a bit with your legs so you don't slip. Just follow my lead." Link called, adjusting the way he sat on the loftwing. The bird followed with his motions and made a few wide strokes with his wings, getting them higher in the sky and angling for a gentle turn.

Ghirahim watched how Link's body acted and reacted to the bird's, and he did his best to at least not fall off. He was sure he wasn't helping the hero any, but had to admit he was finding the experience rather…. Exciting!

They practiced a few turns, and acceleration, and diving, and before either of them really knew it, they had gotten close to Skyloft.

Link could feel how Ghirahim suddenly tensed up when he saw the place, and knew he was tense as well. What was he thinking?! Bringing a demon here, of all places? Surely, everyone would be upset. So he had to keep it a secret somehow.

Link let his loftwing make lazy circles around the town before he expertly turned around on the bird, now sitting backwards and facing ghirahim. "I think we should get you some skyloftian clothes. Just for a while. If they find out you're a demon, they might not take it too well. But if you are wearing some kinda normal clothing, I can pass you off as a hylian from the surface!" he said suddenly.

Ghirahim blinked, his brows dipping forward into a scowl. "You expect me to wear some ratty fabric from this place?" he asked skeptically.

Link frowned. "I don't wanna leave you or anything, but I can't just waltz into the academy with someone dressed the way you are. It won't be long, I promise. There's just some things I have to do." he said, before tapping his loftwing and pointing towards the waterfall.

Ghirahim was less than pleased, but admittedly, the boy's plan and reasoning made perfect sense. With an exaggerated sigh he relented. "Fine, sky child. I'll wear the rags to avoid a scene, but nothing more." he grumbled.

Link grinned. "Great! Wait here." he said, twisting back around and leaning forward on the loftwing. Ghirahim tensed and grabbed Link's shoulders as they suddenly took a sharp turn and dove down all at once, and suddenly the bird was rearing back as it landed.

Link hopped off the bird and patted it's beak and ruffled its neck feathers. "I'll be right back." he said, and suddenly he had jumped off of edge of the rock they waited on and was already speeding across the island.

Ghirahim slid off the bird shortly after Link, and had to take a moment to collect himself. That was sudden and intense, and while he was left entirely unprepared, it was actually really fun. Though he'd rather use the word exhilarating. It sounded more sophisticated.

With a sigh, the demon lord sat down on the grass that covered the rock, and looked over the view he was presented of Skyloft. It probably wasn't the _best_ view one could get from it, but it was pretty good and presented him with a nice range of things to look at.

The loftwing, on the other hand, Simply ruffled his feathers and sat next to Ghirahim, as though it were guarding him or something. While it didn't do anything particularly alarming, it was still weird to be watched by the bird the whole time.

Well, nothing to do now but wait.

...it better not take long.


End file.
